Top-ranked Millard West made a believer out of Lincoln North Star coach Andrew Ferguson after earning a 4-0 win in the A-1 boys district championship game at Millard South’s Buell Stadium.

“That’s a very good soccer team,” Ferguson said of Millard West, which takes a 17-3 record into next week’s state tournament. “(Aaron) Galley and (Tom) Heavey are top-notch players. We thought we could mark them up, but they were very hard to defend.”

The Navigators (9-7) failed to get a shot on goal in the first half as Millard West stayed on offense most of the half, getting off 10 shots. The Wildcats’ Cody Thayer broke a scoreless tie 26 minutes into the match off an assist from Garrett Hile.

Heavey made it 2-0 just before the half with a left-footed rocket shot into the corner of the net after being set up by Matt Fischer. Heavey, a senior midfielder/forward, then scored the first goal of the second half, beating the North Star defenders to a long pass in front of the goal from Ian Kupfer.

Jordan Boston picked up an insurance goal with just more than 10 minutes remaining.

“They played a little different style than what we had scouted,’’ Ferguson said. “They played bigger, longer balls (passes) than we expected and that put a lot of pressure on us.’’

Goalkeeper Alex McKamy sparked Millard West to its fourth straight shutout and its 11th of the season. The Gators managed just four shots on goal.

— Ron Powell